Philosophical Learnings Coming through Customer Interviews
Why not improve us to prepare for the future even though the present does not need these improvements.
During my product development journey for “Speakho”, I have done a lot of customer interviews to validate my idea.
One of the ways that entrepreneurs uncover what works is through customer interviews to discover critical information such as
- What do the customers really need?
- Is the product we are building useful for them?
- Would they buy it when it is available in the market?
With this objective in mind, I started connecting with people on LinkedIn with a note about how their feedback can help find the product market fit. Some people responded positively and agreed to talk over a 30-minute meeting.
My experience after conducting these customer interviews is that there are mixed responses. They were not all positive, and neither were they all negative.
Some people find the product useful, while few of them would not need it. Furthermore, few people remarked that the market size is big and there is an excellent opportunity for the product, while few critics mentioned that this product is “nice to have” and they will not spend their money on it.
Every feedback is important in my product development journey, so I listen to and document every advice or concern from customers during these interviews.
These interviews are also very insightful, not just to learn about your product but about human behavior. It also helped me better understand human psychology. I observed that the people could be divided mainly into two different groups.
Before moving further on this topic, sharing a short description of “Speakho” is important.
Speakho is a software that helps you speak confidently in English by catching all your pronunciation mistakes in a recorded speech.
In the initial few months, I talked to online content creators creating English-language content. Later, I started talking to call center employees and owners as I moved my target customer to the customer service industry.
The common things among these people were that they all succeeded in their chosen professional path. They had become an expert in their subject with hard work and perseverance.
But the differentiator for segregating them into two different groups is: personal philosophy.
What is Personal Philosophy
It’s a set of principles unique to you that guide you towards achieving your greatest dreams and aspirations.
“Your personal philosophy is the greatest determining factor in how your life works out.” Jim Rohn
The first set of people I talked to looked content with their success and their efforts in achieving that success. After years of hard work, they are now in a comfortable position.
In their business: the money is flowing; new deals are coming their way. So, there is no need to change anything that works like a well-crafted masterpiece.
In other words: No need to change the status quo!
Talking about a specific person in this group, I met a Udemy trainer with 100,000+ students. During our conversation, I could gauge that his speech has a mother tongue influence.
Mother tongue influence (MTI) means the impact of the usage of our mother tongue on the second language, for example, English.
The Trainer shared that some students had difficulty following his Udemy course. But he has got a workaround for this issue. The students can check the transcript of the lessons to understand the words they could not follow in the training video.
This is the workaround that he follows when he gets stuck and hence expects that his students will also follow the same thing.
The second set of people are in a similar situation, where they are successful and stable in their profession.
In their business, too: the money is flowing; new deals are coming their way. But they are still looking for more ways to improve their skills. They want to learn new things that would help in their further growth.
In other words: they are constantly evolving!
Talking about a specific person in this group, I met a Lady who has made her name in spiritual teachings. Looking at her experience and professional accomplishments, I was surprised when she agreed to talk to a stranger like me.
During our customer interview, I could see that she has an excellent command of the English language and is a good orator. I asked her my cliché question if she would want to use a product that can help identify the mispronunciations in her speech. Although I immediately complimented her on her public speaking skills. But she surprised me the second time by replying to my question that “Yes, she will readily use that application”.
She further clarified that she is doing well with her speaking skills, and she had made her name as an established trainer. Also, mispronunciations in her speech do not distract her students as they connect to her on a deeper level in her spiritual talks.
But she is considering another future situation where her pronunciation mistakes can harm her reputation. What if she has to give an interview to an international media house? If she makes a pronunciation mistake in her interview, wouldn’t her reputation as a spiritual teacher also get hit?
So why leave anything to chance and not practice speaking perfectly all the time? Why not improve us to prepare for the future even though the present does not need these improvements?
I was left spellbound by her philosophy.
Such different perspectives from two different people. I prefer the second perspective for obvious reasons, as this also validates that my product will be useful for people.
But irrespective of my selfish motives, the second perspective is more positive and a wholesome philosophy for life.
Why should we build a boundary around our knowledge or skills? Why should we stop further learning? It is impossible to become an omniscient person: one who knows everything.
Constantly improving or adding to our knowledge will keep us: discovering new things, meeting new people, and exploring new opportunities.
Steve Jobs summarized this beautifully in his famous quote,
“Stay hungry. Stay foolish. Never let go of your appetite to go after new ideas, new experiences, and new adventures.”
